BioMed Central society journals see increase in Impact Factors after their move to open access

05 Aug 2014

A total of 71 journals in BioMed Central’s publishing portfolio have seen their Impact Factors increase in the recently published Journal Citation Report 2013. This year 12 journals received their first Impact Factor, so 162 journals out of 265 Bio Med Central journals now have an Impact Factor, with a further seven being tracked by Thomson Reuters.

Standing out among the success stories are several society journals published in partnership with BioMed Central that have leapt forward in their rankings since making the transition to open access.

The Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance receives a new Impact Factor of 5.11, up from 2.15 when it moved to BioMed Central and converted from the subscription model in 2008. The journal, the official publication of the Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, saw a first significant increase to 4.33 when the calculation for the first time became solely based on open access content in 2011.

The journal’s new Impact Factor was welcomed by Editor-in-Chief Dudley Pennell: “It is a terrific achievement for Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance to push through the Impact Factor 5 threshold. We currently attract many excellent articles, and this will improve further with this new recognition of the excellence and relevance to others of our articles. I have no doubt that open access publishing has allowed us to play to a wider audience and helped us on this journey over the last five years. In addition, I am proud of the wider gain of ensuring free access to new research for those who are not able to pay for normal journal subscriptions.”

The Irish Veterinary Journal finds itself on the same upward trajectory, following its move to BioMed Central in 2011. The new Impact Factor for the journal, calculated based on open access content alone, is 1.71, up from last year’s 0.43. This new Impact Factor sees the Irish Veterinary Journal, founded in 1946 and published in partnership with Veterinary Ireland, move up from the third quartile to the first quartile in the Veterinary Sciences category.

Michael Doherty, Editor-in-Chief of Irish Veterinary Journal, explained the size of the improvements the journal has seen in recent years: “Before joining the BioMed Central family in 2011, the Irish Veterinary Journal sat on the edge of the publishing abyss. The journal wasn't PubMed-covered and had an Impact Factor of 0.14. Its rise to 1.71 puts us in a new league and is a tribute to colleagues in BioMed Central, the Irish Veterinary Journal editorial team, the efforts of my Associate Editor Professor Simon More in particular, and open access. This hugely significant milestone reflects the world-class aspirations of the Irish veterinary profession and of Irish veterinary science.”

Deborah Kahn, Executive Vice-President at BioMed Central, said: “I would like to congratulate all of the Editors and Societies whose journals have performed so well in this year’s Journal Citation Report. It is a testament to the power of open access combined with the close working partnerships between BioMed Central and the editorial staff of the journals who together work to make the journals fulfil the needs of the communities they serve.”

BioMed Central’s flagship journals have also seen increases in their Impact Factors over last year. Genome Biology now has an Impact Factor of 10.5, which makes the journal fourth out of 165 in the Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology category. Genome Medicine has grown to 4.94 after receiving its first Impact Factor of 3.91 last year. BMC Medicine has seen a 9% increase with the Impact Factor rising to 7.28 and BMC Biology’s has risen by 14% to 7.43.

BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse.

BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.